north shore Mews __ MAIL BOX Landscaping laws lambasted Dear Editor: Mr. Cramer of Evan Valles should consider Inmselt Tucks that North Vancouver District is not charging him) with installing, a furnace uvide an “aquatic zone”. The reason the district is too busy to respond to) his flooded basement is perhaps because district emplovees are searching out and prosccunng dred taxpayers for “landscap- ing violations.” Under the new district “Aquatic Protection Bylaw” every Laypaver near any pud di ditehl creek, pond) or “Hooded bascment” ws subject te district serutms The distrier has ne than sin focal papavers in the Supreme Court tor laadscap ing ialations. The legal and) personnel costs are excess ot $200,000 at ths tine and will eveced $500,000 by the time they conclude. The vast number of district staff involved in these perse cttions ix the reason for poor less Fesponse Ta “Tess critical Areas” of government. The present cousaitis ona Ware oF ceo terrorism that would put Greenpeace to shame. Taxpayers should be aware of this yuestionable bylaw and HS ipa on property rights and the constitumon. Phes landscaping tund could be better spend aiding taypayers rather than attacking them for Property improvement. Brock Davidson kbrock@direct.ca Worried over fast ferry wake Dear Editor: Re: Mr. T.C. Ward's letter published Nov. 20 concern- ing the new “fast ferries.” On one of its recent sea trials the Paciticat passed in front of my waterfront home, travelling at abouc 12-14 knots. Five minutes later 2 small tsunami hit the beach, hitting the stone breakwater and seule tossing spray six feet high. None of the cruise ships of up to 80,000 rons makes such a wave. Had it been summer I would have feared for the satety of small children on the beach. On subsequent trial runs the same thing has occurred. In response to other com- plaints [ understand the BC Ferry Corp. issued a state- _ One week only! (December 2-9th) ment that, once in operation, speed would be reduced until the vessel was past Bowen Island. How many minutes would be lost from the pro- posed crossing time, both at this side and the area of Departure Bay? This factor appears to have had insufficient study. Thomas C. Marshall West Vancouver Everything in store There is still time before Christmas for immediate, safe, long lasting results with cosmetic lip enhancement os ae for the lips you've always dreamed of! The Holidays Can Be A Pile OF Garbage You don’t have to throw it away. Start a reducing and reusing programme this festive season. BC, Environment For more infarmativn call the B.C. Revseling Hotline 732-9253 GREATER VAM OVER oR Rear Sogetus | 1-800-667-4321 Wednesday. Decernber 2, 1998 — North Shore News - 9 ted white, m.p. agventcrial December 2.1996 THE NISGA’A TREATY In Parliament on November 24th of this year, Reform’s Indian Affairs Critic, Mike Scott MP, made the following statement: “Mr. Speaker, a long time ago in a place far away, political leaders decided that people should be divided and segregated so that some lived under one set of laws and the rest lived under a very dif- ferent set of laws. The world con- demned that decision. The world said it was wrong to divide people on the basis of skin colour, ethnici- ty and language. The world said such state sponsored segregation was unacceptable and if we engage in it we do not have democracy. “Now, years later, the Federal Government gives us the Nisga‘a Treaty in British Columbia which proposes exactly the same segreqa- tionist ideas. The Nisga'a Government is given supreme law making authority in at least 14 dif- ferent areas, laws that wili take precedence over federal and provin- cial laws but which will appiy only to Nisga’a people. If you are not Nisga‘a you cannot participate in this government even if you live in a Nisga‘a community, are married to a Nisga’a person and have Nisga’a children. “All Canadians should be deeply concerned because this Government proposes to sign similar agreements right across Canada that will entrench segregation as 1 major feature.” ENTRENCHING SEGREGATION? Mike's statement echoed a message | have been hearing a lot lately in your tele- phone calls and letters, particularly from those who have previously fived in South Africa. They have been telling me in no uncertain terms that the Nisga’a Treaty looks to them like the creation of “home- lands” which, instead of helping the Nisga’a to take their place in Canadian society, will work against the concept of equality, and will isolate the community from the mainstream through a set of laws, taxation provisions, and development pro- cedures which apply only to the Nisga’a. In addition, they are predicting that, rather than improving the living standards and opportunities for those living on the Nisga‘a lands, benefits will flow only into the hands of a few leaders. and that ten years from now the living conditions will be just as bad as they are today. This prediction would appear to be sup- ported by the terrible deterioration in living conditions on the Samson Cree Reserve ir Alberta over the past few years. Almost 80% of the 1,500 people on the Reserve are on welfare despite band revenues exceeding $97 million per year. In theory, the money belongs to everyone on the Reserve, but that’s not the way it has worked out in practice. Even Canada’s Auditor General, in a fecent report for Parliament, concluded that the treaty making process is an ineffi- cient and unquestionable failure. Far from producing the “certainty” claimed by our Premier, the Auditor General pointed to a number of recent treaty agreements which are now under litigation, with claims potentially amounting to billions of dollars, because of differing inter- pretations of clauses in the agree- ments - clauses which were sup- posed to have produced certainty. He aiso noted that the Federal Government has consistently failed to cai- culate the costs associated with the imple- mentation of agreements, a significant problem considering that upwards of 60 treaties remain to be negotiated in BC. PUBLIC INPUT Sadly, there has been no opportunity for meaningful public input into the Nisga’a Treaty process. The numerous public hearings conducted throughout BC were a sham - producing not one single word of change in the Agreement, and leaving 72% of British Columbians feeling that they had not been adequately con- sulted or informed (MarkTrend poll, January 1998). With the above in mind, in mid to late January | will arrange for a detailed oppo- sition analysis of the Nisga‘a Treaty to be delivered to every home in North Vancouver. That document will contradict many of the positions being taken publicly by the Provincial Government, a Government which, according to the latest polls, gamers less than 20% voter support. WE NEED A REFERENDUM Even though our present provincial and federal governments were each elect- ed with less than 39% of the popular vote, our parliamentary system gives them 100% percent of the power necessary to ram through the Nisga’a Treaty, no matter how persuasive the arguments, or how fegitimate the concerns, of those who have voiced opposition. This makes a public referendum absolutely essen- tial, if not on the Nisga’a Treaty itself, then on the basic components of the Treaty. The Agreement proposes such important changes in our relationship with the Native peoples that it is inconceivable that the public is being denied an oppor- tunity to pass judgement on what has been negotiated. if the dea! is such a good one for the Native peoples, for the economy, and for taxpayers, it should easily obtain an overwhelming endorsement in a refer- endum. Come on Gien, let's have a detailed and open public debate, fol- lowed by a public vote. You were happy to accept the decision of the voters in the last election, so why don’t you trust them to vote on the Nisga’a deai? Could it be that it can’t statid up to close scrutiny, that it’s actually a bad deal for the Province, for the Nisga’a (who, after all, only voted 61% in favour) and for the people of BC? Ted White, MP, , #302-1200 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver, B.C. V7) 2A2 “Tel: 666-0585 Fax: 666-0509, Internet: hetp://www.reform.ca/white-t/ | — < EVER WEAR A DUCK TRIL? You could be at risk for diabetes.